Chapter 5

After the ceremony everyone was herded outside to a pasture that was much prettier in the angel-verse than it was in the real world for pictures. No one asked who the random photographer was, but he had been taking pictures the whole time, and Gabriel assured them that he and the DJ wouldn't remember a thing. If they did they would think it was a dream, and everyone was going to be able to go home with a photo album.

When the group pictures were finished Gabriel snapped his fingers and the barn was transformed into a reception hall with food set out buffet style for snacking after dinner, a bar, and the DJ set up in the corner. The rows of chairs were replaced with tables and chairs for everyone to sit and eat at or chat around, and there was an area cleared as a dance floor that Dean wasn't exactly looking forward to stepping onto after the cocktail hour was up.

Meredith spotted her mother across the room as everyone mingled, and she was about to go over and get the inevitably awkward greetings out of the way when Cas stepped in front of her and pulled her off to the side.

"Is something wrong?" she asked, noting the concerned look on his face.

"Not that I know of." he said. His voice dropped to a hushed tone. "I wanted to ask you a question."

"Okay."

"Have you told Dean yet?"

"Told Dean what?" she asked. As soon as the words were out of her mouth she realized what he was talking about. "Oh. No."

"Why not?"

His voice and face were both heavy with concern, and Meredith knew exactly what he was thinking. "Calm down, Cas. I'm keeping it."

"Them." he corrected.

She stared at him for a moment, her big brown eyes wider than normal. "What?"

"You said it." Cas said.

"Yeah, and you said them. Why did you say them?"

As the color drained out of Meredith's face Cas realized that maybe he shouldn't have corrected her, and prepared to catch her if she should faint. She suddenly looked a little unsteady. "Judging by your reaction I probably shouldn't have said that."

"No." she agreed, reaching out and grabbing his arm to steady herself. She didn't think she'd actually fall over, but she didn't want to take any chances. Thankfully Cas was kind enough to help steady her. "You shouldn't have, but you did, and now I demand an explanation. How many babies am I having?"

"Two." Cas said. "You're having twins."

"I think I need to sit down."

Cas lead her to the closest table and didn't let go of her until she was safely in a chair. He pulled out a second chair and sat down beside her. "I'm sorry, Meredith. I didn't mean to upset you."

She shook her head. "I know. It's okay. I just...Kit's only six months old, and I only found out that I'm pregnant again this morning. Now I'm having twins? I'm not upset. I'm surprised. Or maybe shocked is a better word. But I'll be fine. I just need time to process."

"Is that why you haven't told Dean yet?" Cas asked. "Because you just found out?"

She nodded. "Yeah. We were planning on having more kids, but not this soon. I knew today was going to be a stressful day for both of us, and I didn't want him to be freaking out over another baby right now."

"He'll be happy about it." Cas assured her.

Meredith smiled softly. "I know he will, but this is not the best timing. Babies are expensive and we're not exactly rich. Kit's only six months old, and now we're gonna have three babies. That's a lot. It's not gonna be easy."

"No, but if anyone can figure out how to handle something that's unexpected and not easy it's the Winchesters."

Meredith knew he was right, but that didn't help much. She took a few moments to let her brain adjust to the new information, and then looked at Cas. "Are they okay?"

Cas understood her concern, and discreetly reached out and gently pressed his palm to her still flat belly. A smile spread across his face, and he nodded. "Yes. All three of you are fine."

"Will they stay that way?"

"I don't know for certain, but I think so."

"You knew with Kit."

Cas' gaze fell to his lap. "Actually, I didn't. Not for certain. I shouldn't have lied to you, but you were so worried."

Meredith reached out and placed a hand on his arm, smiling. "It's okay, Cas. I don't like that you lied to me, but I understand why you did. And Kit was just fine."

"Well, I think these babies will be just fine too." Cas said, giving his honest opinion. "Do you want to know if they're boys or girls?"

She considered it and shook her head. "No. Not yet. That's something I want to find out with Dean."

"I think you'll both be pleased." he said.

Meredith smiled. "It doesn't matter if they're boys or girls, Cas. We'll be happy either way."

"I suppose that's part of being a parent." Cas said, his gaze settling on Claire, who was laughing with Alex and Krissy across the room.

"It is, and you're doing just fine with Claire." she assured him. "And Alex."

"Oh. I'm not –"

"Yes, you are." she said, cutting off his argument. "You're the closest thing either of them has to a father, and they both love you. And I know you love them. I can see it on your face."

"Really?"

She nodded. "Really. You look at Claire and Alex the same way Dean looks at Kit. Especially Claire."

"I do love them."

"Of course you do. They're your daughters."

"My wayward daughters." Cas said affectionately.

Meredith smiled, placing a hand lovingly over her twins.

%%%

"Here comes Dad." Sam said, as he stood off to the side, drinking a beer with his brother. "Are you ready for this?"

"Are you?" Dean asked, taking a sip of his beer.

"Not really." Sam admitted. "But we can't exactly hide from him."

Dean took another drink and caught sight of Meredith and Cas across the room. They were sitting at a table, talking about something that looked pretty serious. Even from across the barn Dean could tell that his wife's coloring was off, and she looked like she had just received some very unexpected news. Dean, of course, was immediately concerned.

"We can't hide, but we can put it off." he said, referring to their father.

Sam followed his brother's gaze and had no trouble understanding that something was going on with Meredith. "What's that about?"

"I don't know, but I'm gonna go find out." Dean said as John reached them.

"Sam. Dean." John said, greeting his sons with a smile.

"Not now, Dad." Dean cut in, not caring if he was being rude. He handed Sam his beer and went to go check on his wife.

"What's going on?" John asked.

Sam shook his head. "I don't know."

%%%

Dean crossed the barn quickly, brushing off the people that tried to congratulate him. He didn't mean to be rude, but something was going on with his wife and he needed to make sure she was okay. Meredith looked more shocked than upset, but he was afraid something was wrong, the worst possibilities running through his head as he made his way across the barn. By the time he reached them Meredith and Cas were both smiling and looked pretty happy, but he still had to make sure she was okay.

"Mere?" he said, placing a hand on the back of her chair to brace himself for the blow of whatever she might tell him. "Hey, are you okay?"

There was more than just curiosity or concern in his voice, and when she looked up at him she could tell he had witnessed at least part of the conversation she had just had with Cas. She knew he hadn't heard what had been said because he'd been on the other side of the room, but she hadn't exactly hidden her reactions to the news Cas had just dropped in her lap. Dean had seen those reactions, and now he was afraid something was wrong.

"Dean, I'm fine." she assured him, reaching up and putting her hand on his arm. "I promise. Everything's okay."

"It didn't look like everything was okay." Dean said, still worried.

"I know, but it is." she stood up and touched his face. "I'm okay. Everything's okay. Cas just told me something I wasn't quite prepared for, but it's fine. I'll explain everything later."

Dean believed her. Of course he believed her, but her assurances that everything was fine weren't good enough to truly ease his fears. He wanted to know what had been said that had caused all the color to drain out of her face. "Why can't you explain now?"

"I um..." Cas said, rising from his seat. "I'll let you two...I'll just go somewhere else."

Dean watched the angel walk away, and then looked back at his wife. "Mere, what's going on? If everything's okay, why can't you tell me what's going on now? Why wait until later?"

Meredith sighed, realizing that she had to tell him or he'd just worry about it all night. He wouldn't be able to have any fun. She gestured to the chair Cas had just vacated. "Sit down."

"Everything's okay, but I have to sit down?" he asked as he sat. "Mere, what's wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong, Dean." she assured him, smiling. "I'm pregnant."

Now it was Dean's turn to have all the color drain from his face. "You're..."

She nodded. "I found out this morning. I was gonna wait to tell you until tomorrow because I knew today would be stressful for both of us. This isn't the best timing, and I didn't want you worrying about me being pregnant again when you're supposed to be having fun. We don't have a whole lot of money right now, and Kit's only six months old..."

"And you're pregnant again." Dean said, still in shock and trying to process the news. "We're having another baby?"

She nodded, smiling because she was happy, but also because she could tell that he was happy too even though he still hadn't quite wrapped his head around the news yet. She knew telling him the rest wasn't going to help calm him down any, but she knew she had to go ahead and tell him. Once he was able to think straight again he would ask what Cas had told her that she hadn't been prepared for. "Two actually. We're having twins, Dean."

"What?"

She was a little surprised that he didn't fall out of his chair.

"Twins?" Dean asked for clarification. Surely he hadn't heard her right. "As in two?"

Somehow she managed not to giggle. "Yes, Dean. Twins means two."

"So...we're gonna have three babies?"

"Yeah."

"Three babies." he said. "I've gotta get a better job. How are we gonna afford three babies? We can't fit three babies in the truck. We need a new car. I have to sell the Impala."

"Whoa!" Meredith said, cutting him off before he could sell the house too. "Dean, calm down! We're not selling the Impala. I can't believe you even thought that!"

"We have a truck and two cars, Mere, and none of them are suitable family cars." he said. "We can't afford a fourth car and three kids. I'm a mechanic, and you're a teacher, and you don't make anywhere near as much money as you should."

"Dean!"

"What?"

"You're having a fit." she said, giggling because she couldn't help it. "If you don't calm down I'm gonna have to slap you. Please don't make me slap you at our wedding reception."

Dean looked around the room. He had forgotten where they were in his panic. "Okay. I'm okay."

"Good. Just promise me you're not gonna try to sell the Impala."

"Who said anything about selling the Impala?"

"You did."

"I did?" He took a moment to remember what he had said. "I did. Son of a bitch."

"We do need to figure out the car situation, but we don't have to figure it out right now." she said. "We don't have to figure any of it out right now. And whatever we do, we are not selling the Impala. We don't sell family members. If we have to sell the truck and the Camaro, we will, but Baby stays."

"Damn right Baby stays." he ran a hand over his face and took a calming breath. "Twins?"

She nodded.

"How do you know it's twins?"

"Cas told me." she explained. "I don't think he meant to, but you know Cas."

"Yeah." Dean said, well acquainted with the angel's unpredictable sharing patterns. "So, that's what you looked so freaked out over?"

"Yeah. I guess he sensed that I'm pregnant or whatever angels do, and he pulled me aside to ask if you knew yet. I said it, he said them, and I think it's safe to say that I took the news a lot better than you did."

"Twins." Dean said, amazed as he leaned back in his chair. "Wow. Three kids. Three babies. How the hell are we gonna handle three babies?"

Meredith smiled. "We're Winchesters. We can handle anything."

Dean couldn't help but smile back. It still sounded cheesy to him, but it definitely wasn't the first time someone had told him that Winchesters could handle anything, and he didn't really have a lot of proof to use in an argument against the statement. As much as he didn't want to admit it because he didn't really feel like he could handle anything, it seemed that he could. As long as he wasn't trying to handle it all on his own. He was almost certain that he couldn't have done any of the things he had done over the years if he had been alone.

"Does Cas know if they're girls or boys?" he asked. "Or a girl and a boy?"

"He knows, but I didn't want to know."

Dean's face fell. "Oh."

"Let me rephrase that." she said. "I do want to know, but I want to find out with you."

Dean smiled. "Oh."

"And I think we should hold off on telling everyone for a little while."

"How come?"

"Because we just found out." she explained. "Don't you want a little time to let it sink in?"

"Yeah."

Music started playing and Gabriel picked up a microphone, clearing his throat to grab everyone's attention. "Dean? Meredith? I believe they're playing your song."

"Do I have to?" Dean asked as the music played and their guests waited to watch them share their first dance as husband and wife.

Meredith stood up and held out her hand for his, smiling at him. "Please?"

"You know it's true. Everything I do, I do it for you." Bryan Adams sang.

Dean stood, took his wife's hand, and gave her a quick kiss. "What he said."

So this chapter feels really rushed to me, but oh well. It was fun, right? Can you imagine Dean trying to handle three babies? He may be in a little over his head here, but at least no one's selling the Impala. Thank God for level-headed wives. And yes, I already know whether the twins are girls or boys (or a girl and a boy), and I've already named them. One of you already knows, but does anyone else wanna take a guess? ~SG